Friday, February 08, 2013

Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) won the weight throw and took second in the shot put, and Jessica Richardson (Columbus, Ind./North) placed second in the 3000-meter run to help the Valparaiso women’s track team to a fifth-place finish at the Chicagoland Championships on Friday in Naperville, Ill.

The Crusaders recorded 47.5 points to place fifth in the 18-team field.

Drozdowski’s mark of 51’9 ¼” was tops out of the 38 competitors. She also placed second in the shot put with a distance of 43’5 ¼”. The mark was her best of the season and the fourth-best in school history.

Megan Howdeshell (Bourbon, Ind./Triton Junior-Senior) placed eighth in the weight throw with a toss of 45’7 ¼”.

Valpo placed three athletes in the top-eight of the pole vault. Kelley Freeman (Valparaiso, Ind./Chesterton) led the way by finishing third (11’1 ¾”). Sarah Peters (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) finished fourth, clearing 10’2”. Ashley Heisey claimed eighth with a best mark of 9’8”.

Jazmin Taylor (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) placed seventh in the high jump, clearing 5’1 ¾”.

On the track, Richardson’s second-place finish led the way. Her time of 10:18.75 was more than four seconds faster than the competitor who finished in third.

In the sprints, Kelly Wosick (Mount Prospect, Ill./Saint Viator) finished sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.34.

Cleo Holt (Marietta, Ga./George Walton Comprehensive) ran the second-fastest time in school history in the preliminaries of the 60-meter dash (7.95 seconds) and then took seventh in the final. She also placed seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.92 seconds.

The Crusaders return to action at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind. on Saturday, Feb. 16.